Access to Information: Identities & Prejudice

1. Access to Information: Identities & Prejudice Presented By: Sabina Yasmin & Erin Schaefer

2. Overview • Do gender gaps exist in internet use? • What power structures exist online related to gender? • How do existing gender issues manifest online? • How can (and do) the internet and technologies empower women? • How does gender affect how libraries currently operate? • How should libraries operate to accommodate gender?

3. Overview (continued) • Global view: gender differences related to socio-cultural factors. • What do third-world libraries look like: Bangladesh

4. Gender Differences in Internet Use by Country

5. Equal Access? • Innovation Everywhere: Why the World Isn’t Flat Enough:http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/334

6. Percentage of Males/Females in the Field of IT

7. Women account for 80% of librarians but…

8. Do men still gain proportionally higher attention? • Comparison journal published works in 2007 (Lamont, 2009)

9. Some male perspectives… • Some men feel they are unfairly outnumbered and represented. • Some men report feeling similar feelings to women about the glass elevator. “Men are just as frustrated that they are pushed up the career ladder when they are perfectly content in their present position. One male who desired to work as children’s librarians was encouraged to move into administration after only six months on the job. He stayed in his original position for 10 years but only by resisting the promotion,” (Goodson, 2008).

10. Perceptions: Differences and Effects • While women tend to perceive their own skill levels to be lower than men’s self-perceptions, even when their skill levels are actually equal (Hargittai, 2006). • Professionals: perceptions on ability (or potential ability) guide career choices. (Arnold & Miller, 2000) • This helps explain the male-dominance of the field of Information Technologies.

11. Differences: • Differences exist in the ways that women and men communicate online • Women tend to… • Use more netiquette and focus on creating relationships in blogs • Use technology for socializing/social-networking • Be more holistic in the way they search (Lorigo, et al.) • Use the internet to search for products related to beauty/health • Men tend to… • Criticize in blogs • Be information gatherers • Be more linear in the way they search (Lorigo, et al.) • Use the internet to search for books, cars, software & music. (Arnold & Miller, 2000)

12. Problems • “…just because the Web seems to be ‘a-cultural’, carrying no baggage from one particular place, does not mean that it has none,” (Arnold & Miller, 2000) • The Internet is a place where “the category of ‘woman’ is contested and created,” (Arnold & Miller, 2000). • Women still feel the pressure and need to design their “theatrical” self online in a way that people will see and respect their accomplishments and who they are.

13. General Access to Information • What information are women, young women and girls greeted with online? • Cybersleuth for Kids: • For what purpose are young women being taught to use technology for? Absurd advertising from “GirlTech” (GirlTech) (grrr….) Answer: boys, socializing (about boys), make-overs and shopping! • GoGuides.org: • Doesn’t change much for adult women

14. Libraries • Dichotomy between men dominating IT and women dominating the Libraries – between technology and service (Lamont). • While a male IT and a female librarian may be equally skilled in terms of tech., they may not be perceived to be. As a consequence of this perception, females aren’t consulted in meetings about technology (Lamont, 2009, 3). • Women’s and librarian work is often devalued, and this is reflected financially: avg. starting salary for librarians $39,580, for information science, $48, 413 (occupational segregation).

15. Libraries (continued) • Similar to general self-perceptions, professionals under-estimate their skills, and disassociate themselves from IT. • Women are afraid of being associated with the stereotyped IT worker. • “The esoteric knowledge held by IT workers is essential to the operation of most organizations, in particular libraries. This gives the subculture an inordinate sense of power,” (Lamont, 2009). • Subtle Sexism; general devaluation of women’s work. Lamont suggests that if and when more women enter the field of IT, the field of IT will begin to be devalued and salaries decreased.

16. How can the internet & technology empower women? • In the 90’s, there was much written to encourage women to go online. • Sites were created just for women, as well as sites that encouraged men and women to comingle with equanimity. • NOW • Brings up the issue of content diversity (Hargittai, 2006, Content diversity online…) • Google search on women’s sites

17. Search behaviors • “At present, the library has a dichotomized workforce of female librarians and male IT workers. Over time, the skills of librarians and technologists will blend. If managed properly, the best of classic library theory and practice will combine with IT into a dynamic and diverse workforce as well as a thriving and innovative organization,” (Lamont, 2009, 8).

18. How can the internet & technology empower women? (continued) • Article: Same Old Gender Plot? • Permission to be explorers • Attraction to user-friendly, but possibility of not. • Access to people where power may have been an issue • Opportunity to present their professional selves • Freedom to “sell one’s self” • Freedom from visual prejudice. • Have access to other women to connect.

19. What can libraries (and society) do to bridge gender gaps? • The field of Information Media can acknowledge and value the ways in which women seek information (in a less linear and more holistic and sometimes intuitive way). (Steinerová & Šušol, 2007 and Lori, et al., 2006) • Introduce female students to empowering sites, and away from sites like “CyberGirl,” and similar sites. • Make available to women and encourage women to develop technical skills (or build confidence in skills they already possess!) • Address broader gender issues that manifest online

20. Libraries • Value women’s work, what they bring to the table, perspectives, search styles, etc. • Libraries can recognize value of librarians equal to that of IT workers • Make libraries and women aware of tech. skills they possess. • Recognize the interdependence of IT workers with librarians – collaborate. • Acknowledge and dismantle power structures • Equalize pay • Address stereotypes of what it means to be IT or librarian

21. Global View • In principle women should be more benefited from modern information and communications technologies • But in reality 66.4% of internet users were male (1998 survey) • In 2000, the bias still persisted in most parts of the world except USA and Canada

22. Gender Differences in Internet Use by Country

23. Socio-cultural factors • Influence of culture on attitudes toward acquiring technology related skills • Attractiveness of alternative technologies • Women’s involvement in decision making • Countries with longer history of internet usage has high percentage • Per capita GDP is a factor

24. Continued…. • African American and Hispanic population in USA have less access to the internet • Language barriers is a problem for Hispanic population • Regional differences • Attitude towards technology • http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm • http://techcrunchies.com/male-female-gender-ratio-of-american-mobile-internet-users/

25. Bangladesh • Bangladesh is as a small country of 147,000 square kilometers and is about 126 million people. • 85% of the population live in rural areas • Literacy rate: 54% (approximately) • Only 0.3% per one hundred inhabitants has internet access (data.UN.org, 2007)

26. Rural libraries in Bangladesh • Rural communities • Only 4,000 libraries in 90,000 villages: 45 government and 1,603 non government libraries • Rural community members can retain their literacy and numeracy skills • Rural libraries provide information in agricultural, environmental and technological field • Role of librarians • Constrains of rural libraries

27. Conclusions • Still people use libraries across the world • Different usage of libraries in different situation • Library is still one of the main information seeking medium for underdeveloped countries • Questions/Discussion

28. References Arnold, J. & Miller, H. (2000) Same old gender plot? Women academics’ identities on the web. Retrieved from: http://www.aber.ac.uk/~jmcwww/Identact/Papers /pa per80.docGoodson, P. (2008) Male librarians and gender issues. Library Student Journal. 4(10) Retrieved from: http://www.librarystudentjournal.org/index.php/lsj/article/view Article/100/187 Dholakia, R. R., Dholakia, N., & Kshetri, N. (2003). Gender and Internet usage, Prepared for The Internet Encyclopedia, edited by HosseinBidgoli, New York: Wiley,2003 Hargittai, E. (2006) Content diversity online: Myth or reality. Forthcoming in Media diversity and localism: Meanings and metrics to be published by Lawrence Erlbaum. Hargittai, E. (2006) Differences in actual and perceived online skills: The role of gender. Social Science Quarterly 87(2) 432-448. Retrieved from: http://eszter.com/rese arch/a17-genderskills.html

29. References (continued) Islam,S. M. (2006). Status of rural library and information services in Bangladesh: Directions for the development. The Social Science 1(1) 15-21, Medwell online, 2006. Lamont, M. Gender, technology and libraries. (2009) Information Technology & Libraries 28(3) 137-142. Lorigo, L. et al. (2006) The influence of task and gender on search and evaluation behavior using google. From Information Processing & Management 42(4) 1123-1131. Steinerová, J. & Šušol, J. (2007) User’s information behaviour – a gender perspective. Information Research 12(3). Retrieved from: http://informationr.net/ir/12-3/paper320.html Weisbard, P. H. (2000) Cyberjanes and cyberjitters: Myths and realities of gender differences and the net. From the Wisconsin Association of Academic Spring Conference, April 2000. Retrieved from: http://www.library.wisc.edu/library es/WomensStudies/Talks/waaltalk.html